No More Mistletoe
by Imagination-Parade
Summary: Something I'd like to see happen with Booth & Brennan this Christmas; based on minor spoilers for both 5x10 "The Goop on the Girl" and Zooey Deschanel's character


_Hi everyone! __**This story is based off of spoilers for this year's Christmas episode "The Goop on the Girl."**__ I only reference pretty minor spoilers (though Zooey Deschanel's character, as seen in a few recent spoiler clips, __**is**__ in this story,) but if you're one of those fans who likes to avoid any and all spoilers, you might want to stop here and come back after the episode airs._

_That being said, Bones isn't mine, I hope you all enjoy the story, and please review!!_

* * *

Temperance Brennan stood by her front door, slowly but surely ushering guests out of her spacious apartment, an exhausted but gracious smile on her face. Dr. Lance Sweets stood in the hallway just outside of the apartment, bundled up in his coat and reindeer hat, gently tugging on his girlfriend's arm. Daisy Wick was kindly and incessantly thanking Brennan for the invitation to the Christmas Eve dinner that had just ended.

"It's just…it was _so_ wonderful of you to invite me, Dr. Brennan. I know you probably just invited me because I'm Lancelot's girlfriend, but it was so exciting to be included tonight. I really felt like a part of the Squint Squad," Daisy gushed.

"Yeah, Daisy, I think she understands," Sweets said.

"But I want to make sure she knows how thankful I am," Daisy said.

"She does," Sweets said.

"She does," Brennan agreed.

"Hey!" Daisy exclaimed excitedly. "Now that I'm a member of the group and everything, does this mean I get to call you Bones?"

"Absolutely not," Brennan said.

"Daisy, remember what we talked about," Sweets said. "Breathe…and let's go."

"Bye!" Daisy called as Sweets finally succeeding in dragging her away.

Brennan sighed a heavy sigh of relief and swung the door shut behind them. She turned, thinking everyone but her father and cousin were gone, and found her partner standing in her living room. Despite her exhaustion and her desire to be alone, a feeling that usually appeared after spending a significant amount of time with Daisy Wick, she couldn't fight the small smile that formed on her face.

"Oh," Brennan said. "Booth…are you staying?"

He walked over to her place at the front door, standing only a few feet from her.

"Nah, I just thought I'd wait for the madness to die down," Seeley Booth said.

"You can, you know," Brennan said.

"What?" Booth asked.

"Stay," she said, tilting her head a bit as she spoke.

"Oh, no," Booth said, glancing towards her kitchen. "You've got your dad and Maggie…I'll go."

Both partners turned their attention to the kitchen where Max and Margaret were diligently working on the dishes from the large Christmas Eve dinner.

"But you hate being alone on Christmas," Brennan said.

"You've got family here," Booth said seriously. "It's not my place."

"You are my family," Brennan said just as seriously. "It's exactly your place."

"Do you want me to stay?" he asked.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to go home to an empty apartment on your favorite holiday," Brennan told him.

"You just can't admit that you want me to stay," he teased.

"I want you to do whatever makes you happy," Brennan said.

"Seriously, Bones, thanks for the concern, but I'm going to see Pops tomorrow afternoon, so I won't be alone, and you should spend tonight with Max and Maggie."

"Actually, she goes by Margaret," Brennan said.

"So maybe I like giving the Brennan women nicknames," he teased.

"What? No, she's not a Brennan," Brennan replied.

Booth chuckled. "Thanks for dinner, Bones."

"Sure," she said. "Thanks for coming. I had a good time. Did you?"

"Yeah," Booth said. "It was fun having everyone here together."

"Yes," Brennan agreed.

"Better than El Salvador, right?" he grinned.

Brennan looked to her father and new cousin again. She nodded and looked back at Booth. "Probably," she said. "This is the second year now you've talked me out of my carefully planned holiday trip, you know."

"So you're about to yell at me?" Booth asked, wincing.

"No," Brennan said. "While the digs I've missed in Peru and El Salvador would have been nothing short of amazing, I've found that staying in DC has given me the opportunity to have many…worthwhile experiences as well."

The partners stood across from one another, trading smiles as Brennan leaned against her door. Booth's wide grin finally disappeared, and he took a few small steps forward. Brennan instinctively pressed her hand against his chest to stop him.

"Booth?" she asked.

"Shh," he muttered.

He stepped the rest of the way forward, pressing her into the door, and leaned down, capturing her lips with his. One hand cupped her cheek, while his other hung loosely by his side. Her eyes slipped shut, the hand on his chest slid to his shoulder, and her fingers searched for his, lacing them together, as she let herself go to Booth's sweet and tender kiss. Booth pulled away after only a moment, but kept their fingers locked together so they were holding hands against her door. Her big blue eyes opened and met his brown ones in a quizzical glare.

"Merry Christmas, Bones," he grinned, offering no other explanation for the kiss.

She said nothing but tilted her head up, searching the ceiling above her. She looked back at Booth with alarm. "There's no mistletoe," she said.

Booth was silent for a moment before asking, in a serious tone, "Do I need mistletoe to kiss you, Bones?"

She captured her bottom lip between her teeth, biting roughly as her mind struggled to reconcile the reasoning behind their first real kiss. She finally let her lip go and whispered so quietly he could barely hear her. "No."

He leaned forward again, engaging her in another kiss. This time, he wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her body to him, holding her in soft embrace. His tongue darted out to swipe over the part of her lip she had bitten, soothing the dull ache that had settled in the inflamed skin as one of her arms curled around his shoulders and she parted her lips beneath his. Their other hands remained curled together at their sides.

Across the apartment in the kitchen, Max stood at the sink washing the dishes, while Margaret sat at the island in the center of the room, drying them off as her uncle handed them to her. She glanced towards the front door, wondering what was taking Brennan so long to join them, just as Booth and Brennan let their hands fall apart and twisted their remaining arms around the other's body. Margaret let out a slight chuckle. Max turned to look at her.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"I should've known that 'just partners' speech was a load of lies," Margaret said.

"What are you talking about?" Max asked.

Margaret used her head to gesture towards the door. "Look."

Max smiled as he looked up to see his little girl finally making out with her partner. He nudged Margaret's shoulder. "Now _that_, my dear, is a Christmas miracle."

Margaret smiled and the two returned to their tasks in the kitchen.

A few moments later, Booth and Brennan pulled away from other another's mouths, leaving their arms secure around each other's bodies. Just when Booth thought they were done kissing, she smiled and surprised him, placing one more gentle peck on his lips.

"So what now?" Brennan asked.

"Now…you go hang out with your family, and I'll call you tomorrow," he said.

"I want to see you tomorrow," she admitted.

"Breakfast?" he suggested, shooting a charm smile at her. "Everything will be closed, but I'm not seeing Pops until lunch, so I could make you something before I go."

"I was thinking dinner," she admitted, trying out a charm smile of her own. "And _then_ maybe breakfast."

He chuckled lightly and pulled her closer to his chest. "I like the way you think."

Their lips came together for one last soft, lingering kiss. They separated with a quiet smack, and Brennan reached behind her to open her front door.

"Merry Christmas, Booth," she said.

He shot her a smile and began walking down the apartment complex's hallway. She closed the door behind her and headed to the kitchen, a delightfully smitten look on her face. Her eyes traveled over her guests, and she found both father and cousin staring at her with goofy grins on their face.

"What?" she laughed.

"A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over," Margaret said, quoting Benjamin Franklin again, this time with a wicked gleam in her eye.

Brennan's pursed her lips as she thought about her cousin's latest words of wisdom. "Very…literal."

"I thought you might appreciate the sentiment," Margaret said. She easily slipped into another quote, stating, "But if passion drives you, let reason hold the reins."

"Booth says that love isn't reasonable," Brennan says.

"So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do," Margaret declared.

"Is she always like this?" Brennan asked Max.

"Yes, I am," Margaret said.

"What do you think?" Brennan asked, looking to Max.

"About Booth?" Max asked. "It's about time, baby. Angela wanted to trap you two with mistletoe during dessert. I told her you didn't need that."

"Nope," Brennan smiled. "No more mistletoe."

* * *

_So I don't know if it's because she's being played by Zooey or what, but Margaret and her Benjamin Franklin obsession was ridiculously fun to write. Needless to say, I am a huge fan of both Deschanels, so my level of excitement for this episode is unreasonably high. I have no idea if B&B will actually kiss in the episode, and I honestly don't want to know until I watch it, but I figure Emily & Zooey on screen together + Booth and Brennan's first real kiss would almost definitely equal the best Bones episode ever, so a girl can dream!_

_Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!_


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